Our Final Day at Sea

Friday, April 7, 2017
We set our clocks back to the time we started at last week - the one we'll continue to live by - last night before crawling into bed.  How great it is that we have a day to readjust to that time again.  And apparently we needed it since it was close to 8am before we got up and dressed.

Beth was off to walk and then attend her spinning class before we were even dressed.  But shortly after we were off for breakfast that we enjoyed out on the back deck despite the fact it was cloudy and probably not quite 70 degrees and windy.  It actually felt good after the heat and humidity we had earlier in the week.  But there sure wasn't much activity around us as most people were still resting.

Once we ate, Ken and I went down to deck 7 and walked the outside deck.  The stairs to the 8th deck were closed at the front of the ship so we had to go back and forth never quite making it all around the ship but we did put in the laps necessary for a mile plus of walking.  And tough walking it was as the winds were very strong making it hard to walk into them and even harder to have them pushing us and thus feeling a little off balance.

Afterwards we took care of a couple of items including stopping to talk to the cruise consultant to ask about a Mediterranian cruise that was happening in August.  We found out that it was almost full but could be broken down into 3 7 day adventures that would still get us to all those places.  We may check into that when we get home.  Both of us would like to see that area and I especially want to visit the Greek Islands but she did confirm for me that that particular time is very hot which is what I suspected.  I'm not sure I'd want to try that knowing how the heat felt the couple of days we were in Roatan and Belize.

We then returned to our room where Beth was showering to cool off from her biking experience.  I had promised to come back so we could then go to the culinary program in the Princess Theater followed by a tour of the galley.  The cooking piece was a bit long with the head chef and maitre D being a bit silly or at least trying to be.

They did create four dishes on stage including a caesar salad, pasta dish in a cheese basket, sea scallops with ratatouille, and a black forest cake.  Once they were done the theater emptied at the back for the galley tour.  Beth and I were first in line. The tour  was quite quick as it was lunch time and we couldn't be where all the activity was taking place but it was still neat to see the various spots the waiters stop to get items to bring out and we could peek into the pastry area where they were busy creating something though we weren't sure what.  They did have on display some of the special centerpieces they use for various events.

The tour ended in the dining room where they were having the typical end of a cruise "sale" of merchandise some of which is really on sale as it is shirts with locations on them that the ship has been at over the past year but not on our trip.

As we walked out of that dining room we were in the atrium area on the 5th deck - spot Beth had not yet visited so we took a quick walk around so she could see the wine tasting area, international cafe and specialty coffee service, the computer room, and cruise consultant area as well as a good view looking up of the atrium area.

We then headed to our room so I could get the bag with the shirts in it that I had purchased last night.  I needed to return them and Beth had yet to even go through the shops so she wanted to come along.  Beth found some special candies to share with her office staff and a shirt for herself while I got the shirts in the correct size for myself.  I had discovered just the day before that our Elite status also gets us a 10% discount on everything in the stores so I was able to help her out by getting everything on my card.

Beth was famished as she hadn't even had breakfast so we went back to the room, collected Ken and headed up to the buffet for our last lunch on the ship which we enjoyed out on the back deck.  Then
Beth found a lounge chair near the pools where she could sun and read while Ken and I returned to our room.

I did go to a short craft session to learn how to create a shirt with a dollar bill - a bit of oragami fun.
But then just relaxed with a book myself out on our room balcony.  The weather was absolutely perfect!!!!  The temperature was in the high 70s with very little humidity and a good breeze.  It was delightful!!

At dinner, I took this picture that included our table mates - John (who was continuing on all the way to England where he lives), and Mary and Charles who would be heading back to Palm Springs, California - and our waiter.

Following dinner we enjoyed the entertainment provided by Michael Minor, a singer and ventriloquist.  What a wonderful show that was!!!!  Here he is with some of his "characters"

And this one did a Louis Armstrong song.  His ventriloquist ability was amazing!!!!

He told us his grandpa character got wet and ruined in a suitcase that got lost while in Alaska so he pulled this guy from the audience and had him open his mouth whenever he touched him so he could "speak" and "sing" for him.  What a riot. They both got to laughing. 

Then Beth and I raced off for the Princess Theater so we could see the final show there - The Voice of the Ocean with 8 passenger singers narrowed down to three and a winner picked from that by the audience.  I was amazed at the talent coming from passengers.

We returned tired and ready for bed but first I had to do a quick packing job so there would not be much that needed to be done in the morning before checking out.  How I hated to see us down to this point.  The time went too fast but it was wonderful while it lasted!!!!